Parking lot road rage case goes to jury

The thing about anger is that it's kind of like fire, county prosecutor Mark Ott said.

Jennie Rodriguez-Moore

The thing about anger is that it's kind of like fire, county prosecutor Mark Ott said.

"It creates nothing but devastation if it gets out of control," he said.

So grew the anger of Aushua McDuff-Brown the day she drove her car toward a woman in a store parking lot argument, missing her intended target and killing 3-year-old Ruben Ramirez, Ott said during closing arguments Thursday.

The San Joaquin County district attorney is charging McDuff-Brown with first-degree murder under the theory of transferred intent, meaning the intent to kill the woman, Shakara Daan, transferred to Ruben when McDuff-Brown missed Daan.

Ruben was a bystander who had gone to the store with his mother for a bag of chips.

McDuff-Brown also is charged with attempted murder and hit-and-run resulting in death.

Ott said McDuff-Brown had paused for a few seconds before heading toward the woman and demonstrated total disregard for bystanders, Ott said.

"No one should get a free pass for missing somebody and killing someone else," Ott said.

Even when given the benefit of the doubt, Ott argued, the fact that McDuff-Brown fled the scene and planned to escape to El Paso, Texas, rather than reporting what she had done is evidence of guilt.

McDuff-Brown was arrested in Southern California after a Greyhound bus passenger recognized her and contacted authorities.

But Healey aimed to shed doubt among jurors about the defendant's intentions.

Before a murder conviction can be determined, the attempted-murder charge must stand the test.

"She had to have in her mind: I have decided to kill Shakara Daan," Healey said.

It's possible she wanted to scare Daan, he said. Daan provoked McDuff-Brown with the scooter, he added.

But Healey said he believes McDuff-Brown was trying to leave the parking lot when something made her turn, and then she crashed into Ruben.

"I believe (Daan) had something, and she struck the car with it," he said.

Ruben was pinned between McDuff-Brown's car and the store building. His cause of death was ruled blunt force trauma, consistent with a high-level energy impact, according to coroner reports.